I have been able to work a lot lately. Working on designing and talking through the piece for the exhibit in Middelburg and working on the material for the land art piece in Belgium. I am a bit tired now and looking forward to some time off from work, and looking forward to spend time with my family for Christmas.

Thank you all for reading and spending some time with me here. Thank you for your kind comments, emails and friendship. thank you for being ‘out there’. Hope we will meet someday.

I wish you all a very good Christmas and a healthy, blessed and good 2010.

Warm winter ’soul food’ blankets.

When I put these kind of things in the window of my studio people tend to look dazed.. ‘What kind of animal is this? ‘ they ask. I tell them it is wool from sheep like almost everything else they see there. And they ask ‘Is this félt?’ And I say ‘Erm.. yeah..’ And than they stick their hands out and they feel.. Nice..

We are setting up workshops for beginners and advanced felters again.  Workshops in the Netherlands in coming year, which I will start in March. And I will be going to America  this summer to give workshops.  I’ll write about the details when I have the exact dates. Hope you will all come, work really hard and have fun.

This weekend is the big design fair here in Oslo, and I am nowhere near as prepared as I should be… swine flu hit our house in a bad way, and I have either been ill myself or nursing sick children all month (the last one heads back to school on Monday). Such is life and family comes first. Having the children home, and their watching me make and make and make etc.. They have been asking for something for themselves of course!  So we took a little time off and made santa hats for each of them.  (post continues after the photo)

handfelted merino wool felt with rabbit fur "nisselue" 50cm tall

Once the show is over on Sunday, I am looking forward to taking some time and making purely for giving. It is such a great feeling. I am really hoping the children will enjoy it.

Well.. back to work..
Cyn

Morgen ist es soweit! Das erste Türchen des CreaReich-Adventskalenders darf geöffnet werden…
Was wird sich wohl darin verstecken? Eine Anleitung, ein Freebie, ein Giveaway???

ADVENTSKALENDER 2009

Viel Spaß beim Fensterl aufmachen!

I went to Belgium today. As I wrote in a post earlier my concept has been accepted for a landart exhibit next summer in Lochristi. The park is húge. Contains small castle, visitor centre, orangerie, woods, english flower park with water features and massive fountain. and behind the gates the park continues as a family park. Today we went to meet the organizers and the 34 other artists who have been selected. Cold day but a really nice one. The park is beautiful, they get 30.00 visitors, and the artproject will last for three months.

Will have to order materials now,  approx. 40 and 60 kg of wool to turn into felt.

Genau so wie in der Überschrift kann man ShopWindoz kurz beschreiben. Es handelt sich dabei um eine Art großes Online-Shoppingcenter mit ganz vielen kleinen Geschäften. Jeder, der seinen Krams online verkaufen will, kann sich hier anmelden und quasi seinen eigenen Shop im Shop eröffnen zu einem günstigen Preis. Und das machen schon eine ganze Menge kleiner Designer, so dass man wunderbar stundenlang stöbern kann. Gerade auf der Suche nach ausgefallenen Klamotten ist man hier goldrichtig.
Hier einige Fundstücke:

Shop: SCHALL LA PLATTA

Shop: Milo

Shop: MINIBLINGS

Shop: TASCHERL

Shop: VOLUMENBILDER

Shop: ANNIBELL (Filz Freaks)
So nun ist aber gut. Den Rest müsst ihr euch schon selbst anschauen unter http://www.shopwindoz.com/.

Viel Spaß beim Weihnachtsshoppen!

The old scissors come from a very old house dear friends of us are rebuilding in Sweden. The felt is new. The wool comes from a shepherd on the Veluwe.

I made a big piece of it and it is one of those really nice ones I am not in a hurry to sell. I think because it looks like its not yet felted. Wonderful stuff wool.

News about exhibits for next year;

I have been invited to do an exhibit in the New church in Middelburg. As an artist you are asked to make a monumental piece or a collection of pieces for one of the ‘feet’ of the church. (Its an old big church, the name ‘new’ is old..)I will have to go there to have a look but there is an idea brewing in my brain for a long time now and I hope I can use it here.  The exhibit will probably be in May, but I will keep you updated on it.

The proposal for a landart exhibit in Belgium (Lochristi) next summer has been accepted. The exhibit will be from june untill september, so plenty of time for people in the area if they want to have a look. I will have to work hard on this one, a big piece. We will go to Belgium next sunday to take a look at the park and surroundings. 

In the months, March, June and July I will be doing a duo exhibit with Ollo Veenstra in the court of law and a simultaneous exhibit at Ollo her studio. The court of law is a weird building, big, it feels a bit as a highly guarded hospital and the architact made a ‘closed’ building, as in that making art for it is difficult. So my brain was making funny noices. Nothing I had planned was possible. It sounds like a bad thing but its actually a good thing, my brain has to do some serious work on this one. The vernissage will be in the studio where we will talk a bit about our work and have a party. I will keep you updated on that too.

But (always a but..)  it takes so much time and effort and material to make monumental pieces and the chance you can sell them is small. So you invest all and does this make any sense or am I (or other artists for that matter) mad to do this kind of work?

Below; These pictures are from an exhibit in the Historic greenhouses near Amsterdam last year.  The piece is called; They that watch 2.  Its about our expectations and longings,  about the things we are waiting for, but also about the things already happening and which might still be hidden from our eyes.

Heute mal wieder ein paar Kleinigkeiten aus unserer “Filz-Werkstatt“. Alle unsere Filzsachen werden zuerst von uns nalgebunden und dann in mehreren Waschgängen gefilzt…

Filzdose mit Deckel

Kleine, lustige Filzschale

"Tasse" aus Filz

Wer mehr über uns und IsisMond wissen will ist auf unserer Homepage gern gesehen….

Laut dem aktuellen Artikel des Kopp-Verlages sollen sogar Rangfolgen für Patientengruppen und Therapien erstellt werden.

Die Wissenschaftlichen Dienste stellen mit ihren elf Fachbereichen ein wichtiges Informationszentrum des Deutschen Bundestages dar, das den Abgeordneten bei der Ausübung ihres Mandates Hilfestellung leisten und sie beraten soll. Sie recherchieren und analysieren Informationen im Auftrag der Abgeordneten und der Gremien und reduzieren die enorme Informationsflut auf das Wesentliche. Die Arbeiten geben nicht die Auffassung des Deutschen Bundestages wieder, sondern liegen in der fachlichen Verantwortung des jeweiligen Fachbereichs.

Die Wissenschaftlichen Dienste sind demnach so etwas wie ein »Think Tank«, eine Denkfabrik für die Abgeordneten, und deshalb sollte man deren Veröffentlichungen sehr ernst nehmen.

Leistungsbegrenzung im Gesundheitswesen

Das Papier WD 88/09 vom 29. Oktober 2009 trägt den Titel »Leistungsbegrenzung im Gesundheitswesen«; das allein spricht schon wohl für sich. Als Verfasserin zeichnet sich RDn Gyde Maria Bullinger, Fachbereich WD 9, Gesundheit, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend verantwortlich.

In dem Papier heißt es u.a. (Hervorhebungen durch mich):

– »Die Situation der Gesundheitsversorgung in Deutschland ist geprägt durch zunehmende Ressourcenknappheit. Der aus der Alterung der Gesellschaft resultierende demographische Wandel sowie der medizinische Fortschritt mit neuen Behandlungsmethoden verursachen einen vermehrten Bedarf an Gesundheitsleistungen und wachsende Ausgaben für die Gesundheitsversorgung. Bei gleichzeitig stagnierenden Einnahmen hat dies zu einem chronischen Finanzierungsdefizit im deutschen Gesundheitswesen geführt.«

– »Es ist daher absehbar, dass in Zukunft nicht jede medizinisch nutzbringende Leistung allen Patienten zur Verfügung gestellt werden kann«­.

Kommentar MG: Noch weigern sich die verantwortlichen Gesundheitspolitiker zuzugeben, dass bald nicht mehr jeder Patient medizinisch nutzbringende Leistungen erwarten kann. Dies in der Öffentlichkeit auszusprechen, würde wohl einen Proteststurm ungeahnten Ausmaßes auslösen, denn es geht um nichts Geringeres als um die eigene Gesundheit, um das eigene Leben. Stattdessen versucht man die Menschen mit billigen Phrasen und haltlosen Versprechungen einzulullen. Eine, die das sehr gut konnte, war Ulla Schmidt, die ehemalige Gesundheitsministerin.

– »Schon heute besteht der Eindruck, dass unter dem Kostendruck Verteilungsentscheidungen im Gesundheitssystem getroffen werden, die nicht ausschließlich dem Primat der medizinischen Notwendigkeit folgen.«

Kommentar MG: Das heißt nichts anderes, als dass Patienten nicht nur nach medizinischer Notwendigkeit, sondern nach Wirtschaftlichkeit behandelt werden. Ich komme weiter unten noch einmal darauf zurück.

Zum vollständigen Artikel =>

Quelle: info.kopp-verlag.de

Unsere IsisMond-Filztäschchen werden zuerst mit 100% Schurwolle nalgebunden und dann in mehreren Waschvorgängen gefilzt. So bekommen sie eine ganz besondere “Oberfläche”.  Diese kleinen Taschen sind aus meiner eigenen “Not” heraus entstanden. Gerade so groß, dass man Handy, Schlüssel, Hundebeutel und kleinen Geldbeutel hinein bekommt und so klein, dass sie z.B. beim Gassi-Gehen nicht stören. Meine Mama hat ihre Tasche passend zum Dirndl bekommen und war begeistert…

Mehr Informationen über uns und unsere handgefertigten Sachen gibts hier:

The long wait is over.. FeltUnited’s 2009 exhibit is ready.

Feltmakers around the world took part to celebrate what they love.
We felt united! take a look.

It has been a crazy year putting this together, but what a great time we had! On a personal note:  Elis: Thank you for everything – you have been an inspiration, and I am thrilled to call you my friend.

Ein Trend geht um – Filzweihnachtsbäume

“Der heutige Trend ist absolut nichts für Weihnachtsmuffel! Aber dafür umso mehr was für Menschen, denen es nichts ausmacht, sich Anfang November darüber Gedanken zu machen – z.B. was für einen Baum nehme ich dieses Jahr und wie werde ich ihn schmücken?

Eine ganz neue Art von Weihnachtsbaum hat Miki Sic entdeckt – den Filzweihnachtsbaum. Und den stellt sie Euch hier vor!”

Zitiert aus www.motorfm.de

…in Grau und Grün!

Die Dose ist nassgefilzt und die Blümchen haben ich mit dem Cuttlebug ausgestanzt!

Das alles ist Tinka! Bärig und klitzeklein!

Mein Schwesterherz hat Geburtstag. Am Freitag um’s auf den Punkt zu bringen! Ich hab lange überlegt was ich ihr schenken könnte.
Etwas gekauftes hatte ich schnell, aber was könnte ich für sie machen?

Entstanden ist ein Schlüsselanhänger in Zauberwaldoptik! Mit kleinen gehäkelten Fliegenpilzen, Fimo-Zuckerperlen und Filzperlen!

…ist auf seinem weiten weg aus Japan direkt in unserem wohnzimmer gelandet.

jetzt ruhen sich die 11 schuhuuenden gäste ersteinmal bei uns aus bevor sie sich überlegen wohin die reise weiter gehen soll

gehnäht nach japanische inspiration, aber nach selbstgebastelter anleitung , aus kleinen und großen stoffresten…verziert (geklebt *zwinker*) mit ein wenig filz und pappe im fuß damit sie nicht umkippen.

Sometimes my husband says nice things to me like; ‘You must be mad woman!’ and although we are married for decades now and you would expect him to be used to the things I do or make, today was one of those times. He came into my studio, said ‘You must be mad!’  gave me a hug and asked if I needed coffee and if he was the one who made dinner today.. ( a bit of a rhetorical question..) but if I am honest, most times I agree with his question, asking myself the same one once in a while (probably on the same days he does..)

Working on bigger pieces is for some (so I’ve heard.) easy peasy, but although I love it and its a big part of my work, I need  a bit of courage to begin work on a bigger piece. You have all these thoughts building up inside your head, what you want to make or want to tell, what materials you are going to use, how you are going to use them.  And starting to work on a piece is a bit of working towards the vanguard and its exciting but can also be scary. A lot of things can go wrong in making any piece, but especially a bigger piece, not just mistakes with your felt, laying of your wool, holes, slow felting process, stupid mistakes and such, but  it has also got to be a ‘good’ day. You have to feel okay, be strong enough, no headaches or (too much) pain,  no major worries or distractions. The last thing that can go wrong is that you can ruin your whole piece in the dyeing process at the end, but that is the last of your obstacles . (I normally dye my bigger pieces after felting) But as I am more of a Tigger than an Eeyore I decided this week would be a ‘good week’ to do some serious work and so my husband made coffee and dinner and I hope he has time to do that again tomorrow because I am not nearly done…

.

Felters who make handmade felt all have pieces lying around that were either sample tests, projects that just were not right or simply bits left over from larger endeavours. There is nothing like handmade wool felt, and even the smallest pieces never get thrown away, after all.. each piece was lovingly made by hand! For those of you who are not felters, follow these directions using just about any fabric.

Those fabric remnants/felt scraps often just sit in the studio yearning for a new life. Well here is what you do. Make covered buttons.

For larger production, purchase a proper button machine press with a cutter and dies like the Osbourne or Handy machine. (note those machines need a die set for each size)

Large or small, they can be used in a myriad of ways. Here is a peek at the process.

What you will need:

• circle of thin felt, thick felt is too bulky (nuno is gorgeous as a button!)
• button parts – they come in a variety of sizes and are available in every most sewing stores (and online in larger quantaties) - these are size 75 (4.75cm diameter) I love this size, but also use other sizes right down to just over 1 cm wide.
• assembly tool – old tech like the  Dr*tz covered button kits our mothers all have in their sewing kits 1 part rubber, 1 part plastic.

What to do with felt covered buttons?  a million things …

• use them to spruce up a great coat or shirt
• closure for purses
• accent a hat
• use for darting on upholstery or pillows
• make ponytails.. house favorite here –  my daughter and I use them all the time, admittedly they are cuter on her than me.

You can also use wire cutters to remove the loop on the back – I usually do this before assembly if I plan ahead, then you can attach them to findings that you can purchase online using a good quality adhesive to create:

• magnets for your fridge or blackboard
• thumbtacks for your corkboard
• hair clips
• lapel pins
• they are a great addition to the perfect felted shawl or collar
• you name it…

I often use these as a little gift when I send a package to a customer, just a little something to say thanks.

Here is a quickie project.. make a pony tail.

Do a search online for covered button to see what else can be done with them.

]]> http://cynthiareynolds.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/felting-experiments-texel-fleece/ Sat, 17 Oct 2009 09:08:00 +0000 cynthiareynolds http://cynthiareynolds.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/felting-experiments-texel-fleece/

Elis Vermeulen of Holland is my partner in Felt United.

We make a funny pair, Elis and I… we are so very different in everything we do, from the ways that we work, to the materials that we use. Working with her has freed me (or pushed me.. I am still not sure) to work outside of my comfort zone and to try things that I would never have considered before. I have always worked with fine fibres (merino, alpaca, cashmere etc… using norwegian C1 for sturdier pieces) while Elis prefers to use courser fibres, often in the grease.

We have done our fair share of “sheep talk” of late, and the wheels are spinning in my head once again.

While I was in Holland with Elis, who is a lover of Texel wool, I tried my hand at felting with it.  She LOVES to use it ‘in the grease’ – in other words straight off the sheep, full of vegetable matter (and more) and smelling like a barn! haha.. Not really my style, but I am game for anything. So in our typical ways, we went to work and laughed the entire time at how we work in completely different ways. From the manner in which we lay out our fibre, to the way we wet them, to the way we roll. Polar opposites – it is refreshing to work with someone who can show you new ways of thinking and expand your horizons.

Since that trip, I have been obsessed with trying to new wools. Specifically Norwegian heritage sheep, but also other breeds to get a better understanding of wool and how it felts.

Christine White author of Uniquely Felt offers a “Felting Lab” which would be a dream to take. It is an intensive study for Feltmakers designed to give a thorough understanding of the feltmaking medium.

Andrea Graham a very talented artist from Canada is currently in the ‘Lab’, and discussions have arisen about felting with Texel, hence the inspiration for this post.

Here are a few photos of my first time with Texel. My goal was to create as thin and even of a felt as I could using this fleece with a raised square in the middle. Elis laughs at how I work … going wild is going to take me some time – hehe. We rolled for what felt like eons before it started to felt, using boiling hot water. The smell, well…. what can I say? You do not felt with this and then go out to a restaurant for dinner without taking a good long shower first!

Anyone who is interested in learning more about Texel, should contact Elis, she is an expert in using it!

This is a bit about my work how I came to where I am. Before I started making and using felt I dabbled in ceramics, drawings and paintings, making clothes, baking enormous amounts of bread, but the best thing in my past was writing. That finally was the place where I learned that having a brain who works like mine is actually a good thing;  fanstasy, dreams, spirit, the will to use my brain, learn and develop and not being interested in following orders. Felt came after that, although I still fall back on the things I did before or use what I ‘ve learned there in what I do now. Like, dreaming is okay, but a regular reality check on why you work, what you work on and if it all still makes any sense is fital. And I do know that if someone wants to pay me for what I make or buyers wourld more regularly come to my studio and walk out with a piece, things definitely would make more sense. Bills have to be payd, also in an artist’s house.

Felt making started when I wanted to make my own textile. I found a small booklet with some simple instructions, went to a farm nearby and bought myself a whole Texelaar fleece for 2.50.  As some of you will know, Texelaar wool is not the normal or the easiest wool to learn how to felt, but in those days there was limited information or I did not know any better.

Working with Texelaar made me cry, made me tired, made me strong!  and made me more and more convinced I needed to work hard to learn to be a good felter. It paid of in the end in that it gave me a good basis and that I still like working with the courser fibers and fleeces. When a textile artist introduced me to Merino later on I was already hooked on rougher wool and I still buy a couple of Texelaar fleeces (among others) each year to work with.

 I make installation art,  land art ,and although felt is not commonly known in these artforms it works so well. I love making larger pieces, work you can lean to, can put your hands in or feel overwhelmed by.

There are limitations in what you can do though, not just physically but also in workspace. As I do not have a Feltingmachine and do the laying, rubbing, rolling and fulling by hand I need a lot of stamina, :) a good physiotherapist and room to work. Especially working with raw fleeces takes a lot of energy. But I need that sometimes, need the hard work it involves, need the smell. When I do not work with the raw material for some time I lose a bit of myself and the joy of my work. I get disconnected.

My husband sometimes says to me when we drive past a field with sheep ‘Darling, you look at these creatures like a fox looks at chickens.’  And he is right, I see sheep and love their fleeces and sometimes cannot wait for the shearer to call and tell me he has some beautiful fleeces waiting.

During these past years I learned I am not good in following trodden paths.  I am working hard on using my materials my way  or making the objects I design. Although I had lessons of very good teachers who taught me things that would not come naturally to me. You need the insight of others to pull yourself out of your comfort zone and you use their knowledge, but in the end I have to say, I am very stubborn in finding my own way and doing things my way. And I think that is part of the strength in me and my work.

And so I keep learning and working, felting, sweating and sometimes fighting with the things I do; Taking the time to think and rethink and work on the installations or designs.

Hats, I find, are wonderful small objects, to have fun with and for learning how to work with certain kinds of wool, or to better yourself in sculpting your materials or working on ideas.  Making flat pieces of felt to keep yourself going, or to understand your material better, to get things imprinted in the automatism of how you lay your wool, or rub or just because you are tired of your other work.

Working with Norwegian artist Cynthia Reynolds on the worldwide feltproject FeltUnited is a whole different game. We spend much more time on organizing and sending emails or talking on the phone than anticipated for a wonderful dream, ´We felt united.´ She taught me a lot of things I would otherwise not have seen or done and Feltunited would not have worked without this Canadian/Norwegian artist. Found a good friend in her.

Lastly three things dear friends thaught me were; ‘Never ever give up’, and; ‘If you dream, dream  big.’ and ‘Life is good.’

I am looking forward to an exciting year. Working on exhibits, one for bigger pieces in feb. next year, (love those), I would like more of this ’serious’ work. I am also working on doing workshops again, teaching others to do the weird stuff, free felting and making sculptural hats. So if you want me to come, give me a call or send me an email, so we can talk about the possibilities. 

Take care,

elis Vermeulen

A few moments from the studio today.

Felted Rock Vessel

Made using a mix of Norwegian C1 and pelsull with a touch of silk throwers waste for accent.

Here is a glimpse of the process:

UPDATE:

This photo will give you an idea as to how much it shrunk in the felting process.

Norwegian C1 is fantastic wool!

For comparison purposes, see the size of the original resist.

ohhh.. and a link from Siki in Canada.. I absolutely  love this, turn your music on and enjoy.

This was entry for the Cheongju Craft Biennial in Korea:

suffice it to say I did not win ;(

The theme for the competition was: (you can skip this part if you want.. a little long winded!)

The theme for the 2009 Biennale, Outside the Box, proposes that craft be considered or approached as a composite whole, rather than as a series of fragmentary and contending disciplines. To think outside the box, as the phrase goes in the West, is to transcend spurious divisions through the human faculty of imagination. In newly-merged artistic and managerial discourses, ‘outside the box’ is where the indispensably ‘innovative’ is to be found. But it is also where a state of integration becomes attainable; where meetings become possible. As what is devised as a necessary means to an end, craft and innovation have ever been one and the same. By the same definition craft is integration; with nature, with others, with its collective self. It therefore has the power to unite and represent all human values, in the here and now. It is one of the chief absurdities of our times that the world should be facing unprecedented environmental, economic and humanitarian crises and at the same time find itself inundated with products and consumables.The position in relation to crafts, and the fate of crafts, is one essential aspect of this paradox. Contemporary attitudes to material culture: the idea of the self as project the creation of the authentic individual the arbitrariness of meaning; these have proceeded from the beginnings of modern consumerism in the eighteenth century, and from the development of Romanticism as an intellectual and emotional response.¹ But to what vision of mankind does this proliferation of the inherently valueless testify in our information and technology age.

My entry:

In this world where diamonds and pearls are stripped from nature to adorn humans as priceless baubles; it is time to seek out treasures derived from renewable resources such as natural fibres like silk and wool. It is time to reconsider what is precious and priceless.

This fine silver ring (.999FS hallmark) with its hand- sculpted and polished finish was designed to enhance and reflect the natural beauty and luster of this hand felted “pearl”; making this “pearl” as precious as any of its ocean counterparts.

This unique ring was inspired by the United Nations declaration that 2009 is the International Year of Natural Fibres.

Felt Pearl Ring

Felt Pearl Ring

Since making this ring, I have been working on a series of pieces for a new line.

note: the size and colour of the pearls can be custom ordered. I will be posting these on etsy in the not do distant future.

Here is a preview:

cups, saucers, shells and bowls...

cups, saucers, shells and bowls...

cups, saucers, shells and bowls...

cups, saucers, shells and bowls...

cups, saucers, shells and bowls...